The indictment alleges that Makhoul carried out surveillance of at least one IDF base, in the vicinity of Nachshonim. He also described to his handlers the vulnerability of the Israeli civilian population as a weak point. Denial of charges On reading the Haaretz report, Jaja's wife, Razan Zuayter, wrote a letter to the Jordanian newspaper Alghad, in which she denied the charge that her husband had any affiliation with Hezbollah. She suggested that this is an attempt to prevent contacts between Israeli Palestinians living within the Green Line and those in the Palestinian diaspora. Plea bargain In October 2010, Makhoul admitted to contacting a foreign agent, conspiring to assisting an enemy in a time of war, and aggravated espionage for Hezbollah, as part of a plea bargain. The most serious charge, "assisting an enemy in war", which could have carried a life sentence, was dropped by the prosecution as a result of the bargain. Conviction and sentencing In January 2011, the Haifa District Court convicted Makhoul of spying and of contact with a foreign agent of Hezbollah. He received a nine-year prison sentence, with an additional year suspended sentence. Reactions Amnesty International described the conviction as "very disturbing development", called on the Israeli authorities to end what they described as "harassment of Palestinian human rights activists" and said that they were "extremely concerned by allegations that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated following his arrest". References External links Ittijah Includes "Letter from Gilboa Prison" by Ameer Makhoul dated 30 May 2010. 1958 births Living people Arab citizens of Israel Hezbollah Israeli Arab Christians Israeli human rights activists Israeli prisoners and detainees Israeli spies People convicted of treason against Israel University of Haifa alumni